The national Broadway tour of the musical version of “Mary Poppins” that opened an eight-performance run at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts Tuesday night had moments that could definitely be called “super(cali).”

The musical itself, however, also revealed itself to have “fragilistic” elements. We’ll explicate on the ultimate “expialidocious-ness” of it all a little bit later.

If one had a couple of reservations about “Mary Poppins” the theater show, they were not directed at the cast, who individually and as an ensemble approaching 40 performers gave an enthusiastic and audience-pleasing (close to a full house Tuesday night) effort.

The 1964 Disney movie starring Julie Andrews is so great and beyond reproach that almost any attempt to adapt the story to the stage is likely to raise some questions. It’s one of those ironies of show business and life that the one person who didn’t like the film was P.L. Travers, who wrote the Mary Poppins books. When Disney approached Travers about movie sequels, her answer was more or less to go fly a kite (notwithstanding the delightful song “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” from the movie and theater versions). It took the legendary theater producer Cameron Mackintosh to get what would be posthumous approval from Travers for a theater version, which opened in London in 2004 and Broadway in 2006.

Changes were made from the movie. While most of the best loved songs remain, there is quite a lot of new material, including songs and plot/character development (the latter probably to accommodate Travers, who wanted a bit more of an edge). But while the new songs are jaunty and pleasant enough, they are mostly second division, almost childish, compared to the movie classics that children and adults can enduringly enjoy such as “A Spoonful of Sugar,” “Chim Chim “Cher-ee” “Feed the Birds” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

Fortunately, those numbers are in the stage musical, and the cast gave them good renditions Tuesday.

Tuesday’s performance, however, did not get off to the best of starts when about five minutes into the proceedings the curtain suddenly came down and an announcement was made over the speakers (not in the smooth English-sounding accent that had welcomed the patrons before the opening curtain) that there would be a delay because of technical difficulties. Evidently a set wasn’t properly in place at a scene change. But the matter was quickly taken care of and we could begin again to immerse ourselves in 1910 London and the arrival of an unusual — and, as we learn, magical — nanny into the life of a distant banker’s unhappy family.

Madeline Trumble as Mary Poppins infused the role with a likeable cheerfulness that was all her own (one wasn’t thinking Julie Andrews, in other words) and sang and danced with plenty of range and verve. The banker’s two children for Tuesday’s performance (Madison Ann Mullahey and Zachary Mackiewicz) also sang well and were believable in their roles as they entered into some unbelievable realms, courtesy of their nanny.

These almost surreal realms were well staged in such numbers as “A Spoonful of Sugar” (where a kitchen goes kaput and then gets put back together again), and “Jolly Holiday” (where statues came alive in a park), and the “Super …” song. The special effects were often terrific, and Mary — and her pal Bert — do fly, although it would have been nice not to so obviously see the wires.

The second act’s big set piece number is a formidable line-up chimney sweeps on a rooftop of London doing “Step in Time.” What a sight, one thought as one saw them all appear. But the routine itself didn’t seem creative enough in terms of the choreography — even though Bert dances on the ceiling at one point — and ultimately failed to provide the electrical sparks such a key sequence needs.

Almost unneeded, really, is some (albeit cursory) psychological probing of the banker’s rotten childhood. Karen Murphy (who may look familiar to longtime Worcester theater audiences) had plenty of vocal range and presence as an evil nanny (named, of all things, Miss Andrew), a new character to juxtapose against our beloved Mary, but again the point being made was a bit labored and obvious.

“Mary Poppins” (with the impromptu delay) came in at over two and three-quarter hours Tuesday. Did the many children in the audience have school Wednesday?

And yet the winning nature of the best songs and the way the cast and technical crew did their level best to sell everything made the time go pretty quickly. So yes, “Mary Poppins” is “expialidocious,” as in a good time.

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